Filing tray



ecu l8 0 1923.

F. L. G. STRAUBIEL FILING TRAY Filed Feb. 10, 1923 II/.IIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIII/A,

Patented lDec. 118, E23.

FREDERICK L. G. S TRAUBJEL, F GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN.

nitrite rear.

Application filed February 10, 1923. Serial Ito. 618,190.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK. L. G. STRAUBEL, a citizen of the United States, re-

sidin at Green Bay, the county of Brown, t and tate'of Wisconsin, have invented 'certain new and useful Improvements in a Filing Tray; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enab e others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to file drawers and trays for use in the same and particularly to the class of filing trays used in connection with card indexes. Where such indexes are stored in sections of filing cabinets, it has long been customary to mount each card file in a separate drawer. This practice notonly involves a considerable expense on account of the cost of the woodwork for each such card drawer, but also wastes a good deal of space through the thickness of the partitioning between adjacent drawers, and gives the cabinet an unslghtly appearance whenever one or more such card drawers have been withdrawn from the same for use.

' Furthermore, the compartments or pigeonholes as planned in a cabinet for-this purpose will only fit the file drawers for one at particular size of card, so that they are not interchangeable and so that they requirea both the factory and the dealers to carry a wide variety of corresponding cabinets or cabinet sections to meet the varying requirements. r V The present invention aims to overcome these objections to the present practice by providing a file drawer and tray arrangement which will permit various sizes of card M trays to he used interchangeably in a single drawer; which will readily permit any such card trays tobe withdrawn from'the drawer and which will permit such withdrawal without removing the drawer from the cab- 4B inet; which will hold all of the cards at a ,l convenient height while the trays are in the the tops of its front and rear ends. For this mounted therein, and having the nearer side of the drawer broken away to show the sides of card trays of two sizes. a

Fig. 2 is another side elevation of the same drawer, with a portion of the nearer 6W vside broken away and with one of the card tra s partly lifted or rocked out of its norma position to permit of removing it from the drawer.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the same drawer and trays, taken .alongthe line 3-3 of Fig. l but with the cards shown in Fig. -1 omitted.

Fig. 4. is an enlarged fragmentary view of the upper rear corner of Fig. 2, showing to the pivoting arrangement which permits the tilting of the card tray. I

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective View of the .front end mem er of one of the card files of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive.

Fig. 6 is a central, vertical and longitudinal section through the forward portion of another file drawer embodying my invention and having a difierent arrangement of the finger hold from that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5.

' In the illustrated embodiments, I "am picturing my invention as used in connection with file drawer cabinets having relatively large drawers, or drawers each of considerably larger size than required fora single ordinary card file. Thus, Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive show a drawer of rectangular section having its sides, bottom and end made of steel and having a wooden front. This front desirably projects'at allfour of its edges beyond the sides and bottom of the drawer so as to overlap the edges of the opening in which the drawer is s'lidable and to afford a dust-tight closure when the drawer is slid back. Within this drawer ll am showing two card filesof difierent sizes as removably mounted, each of these card files being supported. within the drawer only adjacent to Mitt purpose, I provide the front 1 of each such drawer with a forwardly projecting flange 2, which flange desirably is substantially horizohtal when the tray is in position and normally rests on a ledge 3 formed. by undercutting the wooden front 4 of the drawer at .its top along its inner face. The rear end 5 of the file drawer is also equipped with a supporting flange, here shown as the rearwardly projecting flange t which normally are fianjges and by employing a uniform spacing between the supportmg flanges 2 and 6 of the various card file trays and the tops of the cards for which these are respectively suited, I cause all of the cards, to be supported at the same height within the drawer regardless of the different sizes of the cards.

Conseqently, they will all be accessible with 1 equal convenience when the drawer is partly extended, although the bottoms of the card trays may be spaced by varying distances from the'bottom of the drawer in which these are supported. 7

To facilitate the withdrawing of the card trays from the drawer and their return to the drawer, I am showin the forward end.

1 of'tlie each drawer as s oping rearwardly from its juncture with the supporting flange 2 to the bottom of the drawer as shown in the drawings, so that there normally is a considerable space between the lower part of the forward end of each card tray and the rear face of the drawer front. The spacing thus provided permits each tray to be swung upwardly with a pivotal movement about the rolled edge '7 on the rear of the drawer after the manner shown in Fig.

2. Consequently, each card tray can be tilted upwards sufliciently to permit it to clear the top of the front of the drawer when the drawer is only partly extended after the manner shown in Fig. 2, so that the drawer never needs to be removed entirely from the cabinet forremoving or replacin'g the card trays. -Furthermore, the arrangement thus disclosed will facilitate the removal and replacing hf the trays even if the entire drawer should be withdrawn from the cabinet.

To facilitate the above described pivotal lifting or rocking of the card trays, I provide each tray with a suitable fingerhold, and where each tray is to be labeled, 1 desirabl provide this fingerhold by employingalabel holder 11 mounted on the frontal supporting ledge 2 and projecting rearwardly beyond the frontl of the drawer. Thus arranged, it will be evident from Figs. 2 and 5 that the rearward projecting of the label holder 11 not only affords desirable added space for a suitable label card, but

having both a supporting ledge, a bottom ledge and a pair of side ledges in integral irecurved forwardly formation. For example, 5 shows a forward end construction of this kind ineluding 'side ledges112 between which the trough-shaped drawer, side and bottom piece '13 is inserted and shows a rear end member havin corresponding side pieces 7 also desirably secure a cushioning strip 15 (of felt or the like) to the] niture without having any, metal part scratch the latter.

While each tray end is thus equipped with a flange or supporting portion projecting endwardly' of the tray, the rear end isdesirably less tall than the forward end, and the drawer in which such files are to be used desirably has its back 8 of less height than the height to the ledge 3 on the drawer front. This difference in heights permits the fingerhold to be disposed for easy access above the tops of the cards even when the tray is well filled. Y

However, I do not wish to be limited to the rolled edge aflording part of the pivoting arrangement, or to the combinedlabel holder and fingerhold, or to other details of construction and arrangement as just dis closed, it being obvious that these might be reatly' varied without departing either rom the spirit of m invention or from the appended claims. or example, Fig. 6

shows a portion of the card tray constructionin which the front 1 is bent rearwardly to afford a fingerhold led e 16 and, is then to a 0rd 'a forwardly projecting supporting flange 17. I

I claim as my invention}- 1. The combination with a drawer, of a card tray having'each end thereof equipped" with an outwardly directed flange adapted to seat on a wall of the drawer, one of the said flanges and the drawer wall engaged thereby being arranged to afford a rocking movement of the tray about the wall portion engaged thereby, the opposite end of the tray being spaced from the adjacent wall below the flange engaging the latter so as to permit the said rocking movement.

2. The combination with a drawer, of a card tray having each end thereof equipped with an outwardly directed flange adapted to seat on a wall of the drawer, the flange at one end of the tray and the drawerwall engaged thereby being arranged toafiord a rocking movement of the tray about the wall portion on aged thereby; the opposite end of the tra being spaced from the adjacent wall be ow the flange engaging the latter so as to permit the said rocking move,

ment, the last-named end of the tray being provided with a fingerhold for raising that end to eflect such rocking.

3. A drawer and tray combination as per claim 2, including a label holder carried by the front end of the tray, a portion of the label holder being disposed for affording the said fingerhold.

4. A drawer and tray combination as per claim 2, including a label holder mounted on the flange on the last-named end of the tray and projecting inwardly of the tray beyond the top of that end of the tray so as to afford a fingerhold for lifting the tray to produce the said rocking movement.

5. The combination with a drawer having a front of greater height than its back and having a ledge below the top of its front, of a card file tray having the top of its back equipped with means for engaging the back of the drawer and for permitting a rocking of the tray about its said engagement withthe back of the drawer, the tray having means at its frontend for engagin the said ledge and means affording a ngerhold whereby the said front end may be lifted to rock the tray.

6. A file tray for suspended support in a drawer, comprising ,a tray having its rear end equipped at its top with a rearwardly projecting ledge for supporting engagement with one drawer wall and. having a taller forward end sloping upwardly forward toward the opposite drawer wall, the forward tray end having at its upper end a forwardly directed projection disposed for seating on a portion of the said other drawer wall.

7. A file tray for suspended support in a ward the opposite drawer wall, the forward a tray end having at its upper end a forwardly directed projection disposed for seating on a portion of the said other drawer wall and having a rearwardly directed shoulder formation affording a fingerhold for lifting that end of the tray.

8. A forward end member for a filing tray, comprising in rigid formation an end piece sloping forwardly upward from the bottom of the tray, a forwardly directed projection at the top of the end piece, and a bottom flange secured to the bottom of the tray, the end piece having a shoulder forma tion facing the interior of'the tray and af-. fording a fingerhold for lifting that end of the tray.

9. A forward end member for a filing tray, comprising in rigid formation an end piece sloping forwardly upward from the bottom of the tray, a forwardly directed pro jection at the top of the end piece, and a shoulder adjacent. to the said top and.

FREDERICK L. G. STRAUBEL. 

